Is there a difference between a USB transfer cable and a USB extension cable?

I am about to abandon my 2006 PC running under XP. I purchased a new PC running under Win.7.
I would like to be able to connect the two PC's before I do that in order to transfer my data files.

Is there a difference between a USB transfer cable and a USB extension cable? The connectors seem to be the same on either cable: type A male at each end. The price of some transfer cables seem to be outragious, while there are some extremely inexpensive ones. However, I do find that most of the extension cables mostly are in the inexpensive area.

I don't know of anyone who likes to spend more than necessary for things.